The present study reports an extension of the geographic range of the phyllostomid bat Mimon crenulatum. This is the first record of this species in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Southeastern Brazil. Bats were captured in two conservation units of the Atlantic Forest. Data on the ecology and morphometry of the individuals are presented and compared with data recorded for other localities. The occurrence of this bat species in the region, though new, is consistent with information on its natural history found in the literature.O presente estudo relata uma extensão da distribuição geográfica do morcego filostomídeo Mimon crenulatum. Este é o primeiro registro desta espécie para o Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Sudeste do Brasil. Os morcegos foram capturados em duas unidades de conservação de Mata Atlântica de baixada. Dados sobre ecologia e morfometria são apresentados, e comparados a dados registrados para outras localidades. A ocorrência desta espécie de morcego na região, apesar de nova, é consistente com informações sobre sua história natural presentes na literatura.295299Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES

Mello, M. A. R.

Pol, A.

Brazilian Journal of Biology

English

Repositorio da Producao Cientifica e Intelectual da Unicamp

Braz. J. Biol., 66(1B): 295-299, 2006
First record oF the Bat Mimon crenulatum  
(e. GeoFFroy, 1801) (MaMMalia: chiroptera) in the  
state oF rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil
Mello, M. a. r.1 and pol, a.2
1programa de pós-Graduação em ecologia, instituto de Biologia, universidade estadual de campinas,  
cep 13083-970, cidade universitária, campinas, sp, Brazil
2laboratório de Mastozoologia, instituto de Biologia, universidade Federal rural do rio de Janeiro
correspondence to: Marco aurelio ribeiro Mello, departamento de zoologia, instituto de Biologia,  
universidade estadual de campinas, cep 13083-970, cidade universitária,  
campinas, sp, Brazil, e-mail: marmello@gmail.com
received March 24, 2004 – accepted July 6, 2004 – distributed February 28, 2006
(With 1 figure)
AbstrAct
the present study reports an extension of the geographic range of the phyllostomid bat Mimon crenulatum. 
this is the first record of this species in the state of rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil. Bats were captured 
in two conservation units of the atlantic Forest. data on the ecology and morphometry of the individuals 
are presented and compared with data recorded for other localities. the occurrence of this bat species in the 
region, though new, is consistent with information on its natural history found in the literature.
Keywords: Mimon crenulatum, endangered species, geographic range, atlantic Forest, rio de Janeiro.
resumo
Primeiro registro do morcego Mimon crenulatum (e. Geoffroy, 1801) (mammalia: chiroptera) 
para o estado do rio de Janeiro, sudeste do brasil
o presente estudo relata uma extensão da distribuição geográfica do morcego filostomídeo Mimon 
crenulatum. este é o primeiro registro desta espécie para o estado do rio de Janeiro, sudeste do Brasil. 
os morcegos foram capturados em duas unidades de conservação de Mata atlântica de baixada. dados 
sobre ecologia e morfometria são apresentados, e comparados a dados registrados para outras localidades. 
a ocorrência desta espécie de morcego na região, apesar de nova, é consistente com informações sobre sua 
história natural presentes na literatura.
Palavras-chave: Mimon crenulatum, espécies ameaçadas, distribuição geográfica, Mata atlântica, rio de 
Janeiro.
IntroductIon
the geographic range of the bat Mimon 
crenulatum (e. Geoffroy, 1801) includes southern 
Mexico, the Guianas, ecuador, peru, Bolivia, 
Brazil and trinidad (Koopman, 1993). in Brazilian 
territory, its occurrence is listed in a few records 
in the northern, northeastern and southeastern 
regions (pedro et al., 1994). during recent 
fieldwork, conducted between november 1997 and 
september 2001, seven specimens of M. crenulatum 
were collected. these records expanded this 
species’ range to the south, and also provided some 
information on its little known natural history.
mAterIAl And methods
Bats were captured in two atlantic Forest 
areas in the state of rio de Janeiro, Brazil: the 
reserva Biológica poço das antas (poço das antas 
296 Mello, M. a. r. and pol, a.
Braz. J. Biol., 66(1B): 295-299, 2006
Biological reserve, rBpa – s 22° 30’-22° 33’, 
W 42° 15’-42° 19’ – municipality of silva Jardim) 
and the Fazenda do rio Vermelho (rio Vermelho 
Farm, FrV – s 22° 42’ 30’-42° 34’ 05’’ W – 
municipality of rio Bonito) (Fig. 1).
Both areas, which comprise mainly lowland 
and submontane atlantic Forest, contain different 
kinds of habitats – such as swamps and open areas 
(locally known as “capoeiras”), and the region is 
characterized as a mosaic of habitats (scarano, 
2002; souza et al., 2000). the climate of this 
region is uniformly wet and hot, being classified 
as am according to Koeppen’s system (takizawa, 
1995). the rBpa covers about 6,100 ha, while 
the FrV covers about 2,000 ha. the rBpa was 
extensively studied for some years; the inventory 
of its bat fauna is given in Baptista & Mello (2001), 
and data on the ecology of other bat species may 
be found in Mello & Fernandez (2000) and Mello 
et al. (2004).
Bats were captured monthly on three 
consecutive nights from January 1998 to september 
2001, using six standard mist-nets (7 x 3 m) set at 
ground level or two meters above it, along trails, 
over ponds and streams, near fruiting and flowering 
plants and near other attractive sites. data on sex, 
age, reproductive condition, and body measurements 
(weight, and tibia and forearm length) were 
recorded. individuals were considered adults on the 
basis of their degree of ossification of the wing’s 
phalangeal epiphyses (following Kunz, 1988). 
the reproductive condition was estimated on the 
basis of external characters, such as abdomen and 
nipple condition for females, and testis position for 
males.
Voucher specimens were killed using sulfuric 
ether; later they were fixed using formaldehyde 
solution (10%), and preserved in ethylic alcohol 
solution (70%). these specimens are stored in the 
adriano lúcio peracchi chiroptera collection at 
the universidade Federal rural do rio de Janeiro. 
external and skull measurements were taken 
following the protocol proposed by pedro et al. 
(1994) in order to allow for comparisons. due to 
the small sampling size, males and females were 
analyzed together. Body weight was measured with 
a pesola spring scale (1 g accuracy).
results
in the poço das antas Biological reserve, 
six individuals of M. crenulatum were separately 
Fig. 1 — satellite image of the region where the two study areas are located, Fazenda rio Vermelho (FrV) and reserva 
 Biológica poço das antas (rBpa), including the area of the ilhas dos Barbados (iB), the Juturnaíba dam (Jd) and the são 
João river (sJr). dark gray patches are forests, black patches are water, straight lines are roads, and other lighter grayish 
patches are open vegetation. clinton Jenkins (university of tennessee) provided us the landsat 7 etM+ image (bands 4, 5 
and 6).
297First record oF the Bat Mimon crenulatum For rio de Janeiro state
Braz. J. Biol., 66(1B): 295-299, 2006
sampled in december 1998, January 1999, February 
1999, March 1999, october 1999, and January 
2000. on the other hand, on rio Vermelho Farm, 
only one specimen was sampled in January 2000 
over the rio Vermelho river. M. crenulatum 
accounted for 0.3% of the total of 2,596 captures 
during the monthly four-year study in the rBpa 
(Mello, 2002). 
except for one individual sampled at a four-
meter height, all the specimens were captured at 
ground level, near water (swamps or rivers). all the 
individuals were captured before 19 h 30 except for 
one female captured at 23 h at rBpa. only two 
fecal samples of the bats were obtained, and both 
contained only unidentifiable insect fragments.
in the present study two juveniles (a male 
and a female) were captured in January 1999 and 
January 2000, respectively, and a post-lactating 
female was captured in december 1999. all the 
captured males appeared to be reproductively 
inactive in February, March, and october 1999, 
and January 2000.
cranial measurements (mm) were taken from 
captured specimens and were compared with data 
found in the literature. the values are presented 
as “mean (minimum-maximum) sample size”: 
forearm length = 52.27 (50.10-53.70) 7; longest 
skull length = 23.62 (23.30-23.80) 4; condylobasal 
length = 21.22 (21.10-21.40) 4; length of maxillary 
toothrow = 8.53 (8.45-8.60) 4; length of mandibular 
toothrow = 9.32 (9.20-9.50) 4; breadth across 
upper molars = 9.15 (9.00-9.20) 4; postorbital 
constriction = 4.52 (4.40-4.80) 4; zygomatic 
breadth = 13.19 (12.90-13.70) 4; breadth of 
braincase = 9.00 (8.80-9.40) 4; breadth across 
mastoid processes = 12.51 (12.20-12.80) 4; and 
weight = 18.0 (14.0-24.0) 7.
dIscussIon
the available data suggest that M. crenulatum 
prefers the understory (Bernard, 2001; simmons & 
Voss, 1998), but there are few studies on vertical 
stratification of bat communities in the neotropics 
(e.g., Bernard, 2001; handley, 1967; Kalko, 1998). 
this species is frequently found in damp places 
such as rivers, ponds and waterholes, and our 
findigs are consistent with this pattern (handley, 
1976; pedro et al., 1994). however, M. crenulatum 
has also been sampled in dry forest environments 
(pedro et al., 1994; simmons & Voss, 1998), in the 
Brazilian semi-arid biome of the caatinga (Willig, 
1983), and in a Brazilian amazonian savannah 
(Bernard & Fenton, 2003).
as for its activity, the pattern of higher 
frequency at dusk has also been reported in other 
studies (pedro et al., 1994; Bernard, 2001; simmons 
& Voss, 1998), and may be related to its mainly 
insectivorous diet, as in the case of molossids and 
vespertilionids, for instance (pedro et al., 1994).
Most studies indicate that M. crenulatum 
feeds mainly on insects (pedro et al., 1994; 
Bernard, 2001; simmons & Voss, 1998), but it can 
also consume small vertebrates, pollen and nectar 
(pedro et al., 1994). our study is consistent with 
the insectivore feeding habit, which was confirmed 
by the analysis of fecal samples of M. crenulatum 
composed only of insect fragments (unfortunately 
unidentifiable).
in central amazonia, Bernard & Fenton 
(2003) observed that two M. crenulatum individuals 
used areas of 65 and 78 ha, and flew maximum 
linear distances of 0.5 and 1.0 Km, suggesting a 
pattern of activity not restricted to the vicinity of 
their day roosts. these two individuals also flew 
over open savanna areas, suggesting that the matrix 
environment of our study area may not be a barrier 
for dispersal. they also found that M. crenulatum 
displayed strong roost fidelity, sleeping in the same 
hollow tree for 16 consecutive nights. therefore, 
we may consider that the bats captured in the 
present study could be residents of the area.
there is a lack of information on the 
reproductive pattern of M. crenulatum. pedro et al. 
(1994) suggested that breeding starts at the 
beginning of the rainy season in southeastern 
Brazil. although our data pool may be insufficient 
to allow for safe inferences and comparisons, we 
suggest that the pattern at our study site is similar.
descriptions and measurements of 
M. crenulatum are available in many publications; 
we consulted those given in handley (1960), 
Goodwin & Greenhall (1961), husson (1962), 
pedro et al. (1994) and simmons & Voss (1998). 
Koopman (1993) recognized five subspecies for 
M. crenulatum, and these specimens found in the 
state of rio de Janeiro closely match previous 
descriptions of M. c. picatum (handley, 1960; 
pedro et al., 1994). the measurements are slightly 
higher than those obtained for specimens from the 
298 Mello, M. a. r. and pol, a.
Braz. J. Biol., 66(1B): 295-299, 2006
Brazilian municipalities of uberlândia in the state 
of Minas Gerais (pedro et al., 1994) and lamarão 
in the state of Bahia (carter & dolan, 1978), which 
are referred to as M. c. picatum (pedro et al., 
1994).
the low relative abundance of M. crenulatum 
found in the present study (0.3%) and in the 
literature suggests that it can be considered a rare 
species in the bat community throughout its range. 
other papers have reported the following relative 
abundances: pedro et al. (1994) in uberlândia 
(Brazil) reported a value of 5/233 = 2%; Brosset 
et al. (1996) in French Guiana, 35/8,031 = 0.4%; 
Bernard (2001) near Manaus (Brazil), 9/936 = 0.9%; 
Kalko & handley (2001) in Belém (Brazil), 
3/1,871 = 0.1%; and schultze et al. (2000) in 
Guatemala, 1/901 = 0.1%. in southeastern Brazil, 
a few specimens of M. crenulatum have been 
documented from only three localities: três Marias 
(18° 12’ 24’’ s-45° 14’ 31’’ W) (Mares et al., 1989); 
and uberlândia (18° 55’ 08’’ s-48° 16’ 39’’ W) in 
the state of Minas Gerais (pedro et al., 1994), and 
linhares (19° 23’ 29’’ s-40° 04’ 21’’ W) in the 
state of espírito santo (peracchi & albuquerque, 
1993). 
in the state of rio de Janeiro, the occurrence 
of M. crenulatum had been previously reported 
by esbérard (1998), and again by Bergallo et al. 
(2000), on the basis of a single specimen collected 
in the Grajaú Forest reserve (22° 55’ 31’’ s-
43°16’ 04’’ W), a  conservation unit located inside 
the urban area of rio de Janeiro.
Before the present report was written, the 
above-mentioned specimen, which was kindly 
yielded for our analysis, had been identified as 
another member of the phyllostominae subfamily 
(Phyllostomus discolor – identified by andré pol), 
which proves that prior records of this species in 
the state were erroneous. the present record is 
really the first for the state of rio de Janeiro, which 
seems to represent the southernmost record for 
M. crenulatum in Brazilian territory.
Acknowledgments — We would like to thank adriano 
l. peracchi and Marcelo r. nogueira (uFrrJ) for assisting us 
in the species’ identification. We are indebted to our colleagues 
who helped us with fieldwork and data analysis, especially 
Gilberto M. schittini, igor França, Jorge l. nascimento, 
Jacqueline M. Gomes, leonardo c. oliveira, Marcia Baptista, 
and pedro selig, and Fernando a. s. Fernandez for advising 
MarM in the early phase of the project, and for loaning us the 
field vehicle. We acknowledge iBaMa (Brazilian institute for 
the environment and renewable resources) for granting us a 
research license for poço das antas and for providing valuable 
information on the reserve. We are also very grateful to our 
sponsors: FaperJ, capes, lincoln park zoo neotropic Fund, 
proBio (pronaBio-MMa, supported by Bird/GeF), and 
cnpq/piBic/uFrJ.
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Primeiro registro do morcego Mimon crenulatum (E. Geoffroy, 1801) (Mammalia: Chiroptera) para o Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Sudeste do Brasil

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Primeiro registro do morcego Mimon crenulatum (E. Geoffroy, 1801) (Mammalia: Chiroptera) para o Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Sudeste do Brasil

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